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Comment by dron57 | Hacker News Reader

Funny coming from Honda. My parents own a 2017 (I think) Civic and the only way to adjust volume is by tapping +/- on the touchscreen. It's the most unusable volume adjustment I've ever experienced. It was completely unusable with a glove in the winter.

So while most other companies only implemented touchscreen controls for secondary features Honda did it for the most widely used one. Now they are backtracking 100%, go figure.

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I have a 2015 Fit (Jazz in the not US), and it has the +/- on the touch screen, but also physical buttons on the steering wheel. I guess the compromise is that the driver doesn't need to use the touch buttons because they have the ones on the wheel, and the passenger can take their eyes off the road.

I'm curious to know if the buttons are in the base model or are an upgrade.

I DO have the highest trim level, so maybe that's why.

At least in the US models of the Fit there's no difference in the interior trim levels. I think part of the confused nature of this discussion is that Honda never shipped the touch-only dashboard that this article is talking about in the US market. The Fit and as far as I have seen every model Honda sells in the US has always had real knobs and switches for the climate controls. The touch climate controls were available in Japan and elsewhere.

ETA:

Non-USA interior: https://img.sm360.ca/images/article/the-honda-way/58810//the...

USA interior: https://file.kelleybluebookimages.com/kbb/base/evox/StJ/1082...

For the 2016 year model, the base model has a volume knob but the higher models do not. The 'USA interior' link above seems identical to the Non-USA link vs audio volume knob not being there. This is what the dash looks like for models with the knob (could only find 2015 lx but looks identical to 2016 lx): https://cdn.jdpower.com/ChromeImageGallery/Expanded/White/64...

Oh yes, I'd quite forgotten about the base model radio. Almost surprised it has no tape deck.

I just got a 2020 Civic. There are touch screen control, but volume, music, climate control (up and down, not which vents), tuner, cruise control, and a number of other things are all physical buttons and knobs. I mostly have Android Auto up with music and map going on the touch screen while actually driving anyway, so more physical interfaces are a-ok by me.

I'm in the same boat with my 2019 ridgeline. To me, this is the best of both worlds. Most days, I don't even have to look at the touchscreen much less interact with it.

My 2017 Honda had a dial for adjusting the volume (it could also be pushed in to switch off).

The issue with new Hondas is that switching off/on the air conditioning, or air flow/fan speed, has to be done via touch screen. They do have dials for temperature control and a button to bring up the Climate UI.

One of the major changes between the 2018 and 2019 Honda model years was the addition of a physical volume knob on the main touch screen. Evidently this was one of the biggest complaints and they actually listened.

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